The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (PSBAR) are managed by three levels of monitoring and enforcement.
Read the Memorandum of Understanding which explains what each monitoring and enforcement organisation must do.
Level 1 – Support
The first stage of most user complaints under PSBAR should come through the national support route. This support / complaint route is provided by the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
EASS should provide guidance material to users who wish to complain about inaccessible public sector websites. This guidance covers things like:
- Suggestions for engaging with the organisation to resolve the issue
- Users’ rights under PSBAR and the Equality Act
- A method to lodge a complaint which is passed on for monitoring
Level 2 – Monitoring
The Monitoring body is often seen by many as the “owners” of PSBAR, being responsible for the original roll out of the regulations and monitoring the UKs progress towards compliance which includes reporting progress on the international stage.
The role of monitoring falls to the Cabinet Office, with the actual work being conducted by a specialist Digital Accessibility Monitoring Team. The monitoring team’s position within the government department has changed over the years, sometimes being referred to as GDS (The Government Digital Service), or the CDDO (Central Digital & Data Office). Currently they are known as GDS.
GDS monitors how the public sector are doing at complying with the regulations. To do this they test many hundreds of public sector websites every year against regulations requirements and send letters to organisations with lists of issues to be fixed.
Regularly GDS then have to announce figures for their monitoring results on behalf of the UK. This is fed back into the European Commission so we can see how we are doing compared to other countries.
Read the GDS monitoring figures for 2020-2021
Why do we report to the European Commission? – A history of PSBAR
Level 3 - Enforcement
Enforcement is the final stage reserved for when a resolution cannot be reached regarding a user complaint, or a lack of action by a public sector body in response to government monitoring.
Enforcement is carried out by different agencies depending on where you are in the UK.
For England, Scotland and Wales, enforcement is carried out by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
In Northern Ireland enforcement is carried out by the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland.
Where a public sector body has failed to engage with GDS and/or failed to fix the majority of non-compliance issues, the EHRC will consider whether it is proportionate to take enforcement action. It does this in accordance with its litigation and enforcement policy.
If you have received contact from GDS as part of the monitoring process, you will be told what has been monitored and why, whether that be because of a complaint or as part of a standard monitoring sample.
Let’s look at the three most common examples of what leads to a public sector body organisation being monitored.
Example 1: User complaint
One of the most common ways for an organisation to get on “the list” for monitoring is for a user to make a complaint about a website or service that public sector body organisation is responsible for. So how does a complaint turn into monitoring and enforcement?
In this example we will look at a user who has been trying to find an accessible prospectus for a university they would like to attend. The user has failed to find the accessible content and feels that they are being discriminated against, or the organisation is not meeting its legal duties.
Step 1: The user has decided to make a complaint through the EASS, directed there by the university’s accessibility statement.
Step 2: The EASS will take 2 actions. The EASS will respond to the user encouraging them to contact the university and ask for an accessible alternative to the prospectus if they have not done so already. The EASS will also forward the complaint to GDS (The Monitoring Body) in all cases.
Step 3: Whether the initial complaint is resolves or not, GDS is now aware of a complaint against that organisation and will prioritise them for monitoring.
Example 2: Basic monitoring
If an organisation has not received a complaint by a user, the other common way for organisations to receive monitoring is just as part of GDS’ ongoing selection of website for sampling.
Most organisations that are selected by GDS to be part of a monitoring sample will receive the basic monitoring which consists of a selection of automated and regulation checks. The full process for this is described below in the ‘How are GDS testing my website?’ section.
Once GDS has completed their testing, organisations will receive a letter telling them what they have to do next. More information on this available below in the ‘What do I need to do?’ section.
Example 3: Advanced monitoring
On rarer occasions, organisations may receive contact from GDS to conduct advanced monitoring. This will involve far more comprehensive testing of a website or digital platform and GDS will work with you to define things like scope of testing, gain access to systems as necessary and generally talk you through what is expected.
Basic monitoring
GDS have published information about how they sample and choose pages for simplified testing.
GDS test pages using a combination of automated accessibility tools and manual tests. GDS currently use an automated tool called Axe. You can replicate the errors GDS find by downloading Axe as a free browser extension. For these tests, GDS are only looking for severe or critical Axe errors.
Automated testing does not find all accessibility issues. GDS also do manual tests including:
- Tabbing through each page without a mouse
- Viewing the page at different zoom settings
- Simulating viewing the page on a small screen
These manual tests find issues such as keyboard functionality, visibility of keyboard focus and reflow which are some of the most common barriers to users with accessibility needs and are not likely to be picked up in automated tests.
Tests are completed using different settings in the Google Chrome browser on Mac OSX with a 13 inch screen.
Just received the letter
When you receive the monitoring letter from GDS, they will tell you:
- which parts of your website GDS looked at
- how GDS checked the accessibility of those pages
- the accessibility issues found and how important they are
- what you need to do next to fix the issues
Timelines and Actions
Once you have received an audit GDS ask that you:
- Respond to their monitoring email within 7 days to confirm you have received the report
- Send GDS your disproportionate burden assessment evidence within 7 days if applicable
- Carry out an accessibility audit of your website to find what needs to be fixed, if you have not had an audit completed recently
- Fix the issues on your website within 12 weeks
- Publish an accessibility statement in the correct format on your website
GDS will get in touch with you at the end of 12 weeks to request an update on your progress. The 12 weeks starts from the date you are sent the accessibility report unless communicated otherwise.
After 12 weeks GDS will ask for:
- Issues you have fixed
- Issues you have been unable to fix
- A timeline for fixing unresolved issues
- Any other comments about the accessibility of your website
GDS will then retest your website to check that any accessibility issues listed in the report have been fixed.
If GDS find outstanding issues from the report, they will ask you for timelines to fix them. Any issues that have not been fixed should be included in your accessibility statement. This will help users understand where they might find potential barriers when using your website and ways they can request other formats where necessary.